Oni Press Announces Multiple New Hires and Companywide Promotions for 2025
Oni Press has announced a series of new hires and internal promotions for key roles companywide in key departments, including Accounting, Editorial, Marketing, Operations, and beyond.
Beginning next week, Oni Press will attend this year’s annual ComicsPRO Comic Book Industry Meeting in Glendale, CA, where it will reveal a series of major announcements about future publishing initiatives for 2025 and beyond.
Spencer Simpson | VP, Marketing & Sales
Publishing industry veteran and former VP, Sales Spencer Simpson has been promoted to the new role of VP, Marketing and Sales.
Simpson began his career in publishing working in bookstores before joining the corporate offices of Books-A-Million in Store Operations. He became a Buyer for American Wholesale Book Company in 2011, curating for over 200 stores the selection of graphic novels, manga, and other categories. In 2014, he spearheaded a periodical comics program in 2nd & Charles and Books-A-Million, launching the Fried Pie variant imprint and 2nd & Charles’ annual comics convention program. In 2018, he joined BOOM! Studios as Director of Sales and, in 2021, moved to DC Comics, where he served as Director of Sales and then subsequently Director of Channel Strategy, Book Market before joining Oni Press in 2023.
Jung Hu Lee | Associate Editor
Born in Seoul, South Korea, raised in Washington, DC and Maryland, Lee graduated from the University of Pittsburgh’s English Writing program. Post-university, they worked as a library page, bookseller, newspaper intern, substitute teacher, special ed. tutor, EMT recruit, TV production technician, and research assistant before moving to Portland in 2010. They started at Oni Press in 2013 as a Warehouse Assistant, and then as Logistics Coordinator in 2018. Starting in August 2022, they began as an Editorial Assistant, then as Assistant Editor in 2023.
Presently, they help edit the EC Comics line, Adventure Time, and Rick and Morty and previously worked on such titles as Cemetery Kids Don’t Die, Night People, XINO and Let Me Out.
Sara Harding | Administrative Manager
Harding (she/her) joined Oni Press in February 2022 as the Entertainment Executive Assistant before being promoted into her previous role of Executive Coordinator in October 2023. While having an extensive history in administrative and legal fields, she also flourishes in the creativity of the comics/publishing world. Previously, she has provided her editing talents on .SELF by Christopher Sebela and Cara McGee (Comixology/Dark Horse), All the Devils are Here by Jarred Lujan and Matt Harding (Scout Comics), and various creator-owned anthologies such as Not Forgotten, A Cold, Dark Universe, and Big Hype: Volume One. Additionally, she has written for the horror anthology From the Static (Band of Bards).
Kaia Rokke | Marketing and Communications Manager
Formerly Marketing & Communications Coordinator, Rokke joined Oni Press in October 2023 after graduating from Sweet Briar College and will be managing marketing, publicity, and social media efforts for Oni’s growing slate of comics and graphic novels.
NEW HIRES
Allyson Gronowitz | Senior Editor
After interning with DC Comics, Gronowitz joined BOOM! Studios in 2019, where she brought her talent and enthusiasm to a variety of BOOM! Studios and Archaia projects, from single-issue series like Darcy Van Poelgeest’s Lotus Land, Christopher Cantwell’s Briar, and Jude Ellison S. Doyle’s Maw to original graphic novels such as Eighty Days by A. C. Esguerra and Better Angels by Jeff Jensen. As a six-year veteran of BOOM!’s Editorial team, Gronowitz helped spearhead the Jim Henson Company license and was the lead Editor of the acclaimed and long-running Power Rangers comics, launching the all-new Power Rangers Prime series in 2024.
Elyse Raimo | Director of Reporting & Special Projects
Previously Finance Manager for BOOM! Studios for five years, Raimo joins Oni as the Director of Reporting & Special Projects. In this specialized role, Raimo manages royalties administration and accounting, internal and external reporting for multiple distributors and vendors, as well as strategic oversight of Oni’s growing direct-to-consumer operations through channels including OniPress.com and Kickstarter.
Megan Christopher | Director of Operations
A veteran of BOOM! Studios and TKO Studios, Christopher brings nearly a decade of experience in project management, efficiency, and expansive logistical thinking to Oni Press as Director of Operations. While at BOOM! she managed fulfillment on record-shattering Kickstarter projects, including BRZRKR and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Complete Comic Book Collections, and drove internal initiatives to set future projects up for success.
Azat Sayadi | Assistant Editor
After interning at Warner Bros. and DC Comics, and graduating from Chapman University, Sayadi joined Oni Press in May of 2024 as Assistant Editor and, in the first eight months of her tenure has helped pioneer numerous projects, such as The Autumn Kingdom, Goat Magic, Plague House, Agent Cupcake, Out of Alcatraz, and more.
Melanie Ujimori | Prepress Lead
Ujimori began her career as a silkscreen t-shirt designer before moving on to print publication. Prior to Oni, Ujimori worked at Seven Seas Entertainment for three years doing prepress on manga, Korean webtoons, and Chinese danmei. Part of the Eisner and Ignatz-winning Elements: Fire Anthology, her previous lettering clients include Vault (She Said Destroy), Difference Engine (The Makers Club), HarperAlley (Up to No Ghoul), and DC (Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story). Decades ago, a tiny Mel in Hawaii pointed at the jet planes flying overhead and said “I want to be a pilot in Top Gun and fight giant robots in space!” She now finds working in print much more fulfilling and far less hazardous.
